A suggestion a day from the Williamsburg Regional Library

Suck it Up, by Brian Meehl

This is not your typical teen vampire book. It is the story of Morning McCobb. He is not a posh, Gossip Girl-esque vampire, he is not particularly elegant, has no particular affectations, and certainly does not sparkle. In his world, there are Loners and there are Leaguers, and then there are Lifers. Let’s start with the easiest first: Lifers are humans, the non-vampires that Loners drink at will and Leaguers do not. Leaguers are those vampires who have been through Leaguer Academy, and have taken the “Leaguer Oath” in which they swear to, among other things, refrain from drinking from humans. One reason that Leaguers and Lifers coexist in peace, is that Lifers have no idea that vampires really exist. Loners, on the other hand, are not a part of the vampire community. They operate on the fringe and drink as they please. Another goal of Leaguers is to help convert Loners to their way of thinking. Don’t worry; there is a glossary of terms in the back of the book.

We meet Morning on the day of his graduation from Leaguer Academy. He is awkward, a bit of a nerd, and often the laughing stock of the school, and he is pleased to simply make it through his graduation exercises. The biggest surprise of the day, however, comes from his commencement speaker, Luther Birnam. Morning has been chosen to be the first vampire to reveal his vampirism to the people of the world. And what’s the first thing a vampire in such a position would need? A PR rep by the name of Penny Dredful. Morning, Penny, and Penny’s daughter Portia join together to market Morning to the world, and achieve Morning’s dream of being the first out and proud vampire, and a superhero of sorts. Suck it Up is a humorous story that turns vampirism on its head and provides a welcome change from the innumerable other young adult vampire books out there.